The present invention relates generally to container liners such as an animal litter box liners, and, more particularly, to a cat litter box liner having sodium bicarbonate incorporated into the material thereof.
The use of sodium bicarbonate (“baking soda”) to reduce or eliminate odors of various kinds, such as food odors, is well known. Previously, there have been trashcan liners that have been coated with baking soda for reduction of garbage odors. Also, patents have issued for devices that use sodium bicarbonate for odor control generally. These include U.S. Pat. No. 5,254,401, issued to Kelch et al., which discloses a packaging material for controlled atmosphere packaging. The package is primarily directed at storage of produce and includes a blowing agent containing sodium bicarbonate in an adhesive layer of a liner.
Other patents have issued related specifically to odors created by pets in their use of litter for purposes of defecation and urination. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,203,388, which issued to Cortigene et al, discloses an animal litter specifically incorporating sodium bicarbonate in the litter material as a deodorant.
More broadly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,630,377 discloses a pet toilet assembly having bundles of strips formed of recycled newspaper that is capable of being chemically treated with deodorants, germicidal agents, etc. Kamrath et al. were issued U.S. Pat. No. 5,715,772, which discloses a pad for use in a pet carrier and has an optional deodorizer and disinfectant applied to the absorbent layer to neutralize odors from the animal waste. Thus a need has long existed for means by which to deodorize animal litter boxes, but until this time it has never been suggested to actually incorporate sodium bicarbonate as a deodorizer directly into the material from which the box liner is formed; that is, not as a coating or a layer, but as actually part of the liner material per se.